Timber industry ponders carbon trading impact
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Queensland's timber industry says the Federal Government's proposed carbon emissions trading scheme could change the face of their business.
Members of the forestry industry will meet in Brisbane today to discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls of the plan which the Government wants to start in 2010.
Timber Queensland's chief executive officer Rod McInnes says they have to consider the consequences of participating in the scheme.
"There is a whole new opportunity to get more trees in the ground and more forest cover and more carbon storage and in turn provide more timber products," he said.
"The downside is that if the market for carbon is unconstrained and goes crazy we could end up with it being more attractive to leave a tree unharvested. That would mean the available resource to convert to timber may diminish."
Mr McInnes says it could either deliver environmental and economic benefits in the industry or reduce timber production.
"It's a very interesting balancing act ... and I'm not expecting that the Government's going to call what the carbon price will be up-front, but it's an issue where we need to understand what those variables are going to be so we can make the right policy decisions," he said.
